Announcement for:
Faculty from University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno;
Nevada State College; College of Southern Nevada; Great Basin College;
Truckee Meadows Community College; Western Nevada College,
Desert Research Institute

Submission Deadline: Friday, November 21, 2014
Application materials and faculty recommendations must be submitted no later than
5:00 PM PDT of the submission deadline date.

IWGs provide a venue for engaging scientists and educators, along with key nationally and internationally recognized experts, to address the grand challenges that can transform science and education. This program supports working group activities that are modeled after those hosted by the highly successful NSF-supported National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Direct involvement is an EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII)-funded project is NOT a prerequisite for participation in this program. A strategic final objective of the IWGs is the submission of proposals that target NSF cross-cutting programs and/or the publication of synthesis papers in peer reviewed journals.

The Nevada Collaborative Teaching Improvement Program (NeCoTIP) annually awards federal funding to
states for the purposes of strengthening teacher preparation and providing high quality in-service professional
development for practicing teachers and other educators.

Most of the federal funding received in Nevada is distributed to schools or projects through the Nevada
Department of Education. However, up to approximately $280,000 is available to faculty members at colleges
and universities or to non-profit organizations, through the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) in the
Nevada SAHE competitive grant program, NeCoTIP. This request is for proposals for projects to be supported
through the NSHE competitive grant program. Projects are to be conducted within a period from January 1,
2015 through September 30, 2016.

An Update has been added to this solicitation, please see link below to download update from NASA.

Due: December 22, 2014

Nevada NASA EPSCoR

We anticipate that the federal CAN release date will occur this Spring. We are beginning the
preproposal stage at this time to allow for sufficient time to develop a strong proposal from
Nevada. At this time, we know that NASA is considering the option of allowing each state to
submit two complete proposals per state. Once we have confirmation one way or the other, we
will ammend this announcement. We are currently basing this solicitation on past solicitations
and at this time, do not anticipate any drastic changes to occur.

It has been noted that faculty who identify a collaborative effort with
NASA personnel or NASA Contractors within their proposal are often
more successful than when this type of relationship has been absent
or neglected. Proposals demonstrating this type of involvement are
therefore, strongly encouraged.

It is also noted that all successful CAN proposals include statewide
collaborations. In an effort to support and strengthen statewide
synergy and collaborations necessary for a strong proposal, the
NSHE Sponsored Programs and EPSCoR Office will be accepting (on
an ongoing basis) applications for funding to support team building
workshops to create competitive statewide efforts in response to the
anticipated NASA EPSCoR CAN and other research funding
opportunities to the state.

The Nevada System of Sponsored Programs and EPSCoR Office is happy to announce funding opportunities for faculty researchers to build statewide collaborations. These funds can be used to hold workshops to stimulate potential collaborations among NSHE faculty, NASA scientists/engineers, and industry with the goal of initiating seed grant funding and/or proposal development for nationally competitive solicitations to all federal agencies including NASA.

There is no institutional match required for these workshop proposals.

The workshop topic should drive proposals that:

contribute to and promote the development of research infrastructure in areas of strategic importance to the NASA mission; Space Science, Mission to Planet Earth, Human Exploration and Development of Space, Aeronautics, and Space Technology;

improve the capabilities of Nevada to gain support directly from NASA and other sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program;

contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science, and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the State by utilizing Nevada’s unique resources and assets while developing and expanding regional interests in Climate Change, Systems Engineering, Astrophysics, Planetary Geology, and Astrobiology;

work in close coordination with the NASA Space Grant Program to improve the environment for science , math, engineering, and technology education in the State;

have relevance to the Governor’s initiatives stated in his Nevada economic development plan.

These workshops should have a topical theme such that collaborations can be built. Workshops that include a proposal writing component (to familiarize faculty with NSPIRES, NASA opportunities as well as writing a competitive proposal) are encouraged.

Request for Proposals

Announcement for:
Full-time undergraduate students attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno; Nevada State College; College of Southern Nevada; Great Basin College;
Truckee Meadows Community College; Western Nevada College

Submission Deadline: Monday, September 29, 2014
Application materials and faculty recommendations must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM PDT of the submission deadline date.

NASA grant to fund the start of a new educational program across four campuses

Nevada’s private space industry has been making headlines in recent months as private companies continue to blaze the trail with new partnerships with NASA and other leading private space-based initiatives. But now, Nevada’s students are about to be the next in line to take a bold step into the unknown.

The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) was awarded funding of $500,000 through the Nevada NASA Space Grant Consortium (NVSGC) for the creation of a new program that will change how Nevada’s community college students learn, all the while planting the seed for an education system that will help staff Nevada’s future space and science-related industries.

Titled “A Community College Partnership Creating a Community of Practice Model to Engage and Retain Minority Students,” the program will create a community of practice (CoP) at each campus involved in the program. Though the term CoP is a fairly newly coined term, the concept isn’t.

“Communities of practice are how humans have traditionally learned since the dawn of time,” said Dr. Darren Divine, vice president of academic affairs for College of Southern Nevada. “People who share similar interests create communities around those interests; students have been doing this for quite some time via study groups. However, this program will take that concept to a whole new level, adding a virtual element that will eliminate distance as an obstacle.”

With a CoP established at each of the four participating campuses — College of Southern Nevada, Western Nevada College, Great Basin College and Truckee MeadowsCommunity College — the program will link each group to the others with monthly video conferences. Starting in the spring of 2015, students will receive significant participant (scholarship) support, individualized degree planning and weekly interdisciplinary biological and physical science study and inquiry as they work towards Associate of Science degrees. This program will support faculty as they present science content in ways that impact student persistence and graduation attainment.

“Students can learn a great deal from one another — sometimes even more than from the classroom itself,” Divine said. “This program will give them access to students from across the state, and as a result, varying perspectives they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.”

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) application period is now open! NSF is soliciting applications for the GRFP until the posted deadlines in late October and early November 2014. Since 1952, GRFP has provided Fellowships to individuals selected early in their graduate careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. Three years of support is provided by the program for graduate study in science or engineering and leads to a research-based master’s or doctoral degree. The NSF expects to award 2,000 Graduate Research Fellowships under this program solicitation pending availability of funds:

GRFP is also soliciting reviewers for the GRFP applications. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary scientists and engineers, and other professionals with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduate education expertise, are invited to serve as reviewers for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). This opportunity is described in a Dear Colleague Letter:

Due Date: September 8, 2014 The goal of NASA’s EPSCoR program is to develop academic research enterprises that are long term, self-sustaining and nationally competitive for non-EPSCoR funds. Funded projects are expected to establish research activities that will make important contributions to the strategic research and technology development priorities of one or more of the Mission Directorates and contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science, and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the State. Specifically, the objectives of the NASA EPSCoR program are:

Contribute to and promote the development of research infrastructure in NASA EPSCoR States in areas of strategic importance to the NASA mission; (Space Science, Mission to Planet Earth, Human Exploration and Development of Space, Aeronautics, and Space Technology.)

Improve the capabilities of the NASA EPSCoR States to gain support directly from NASA and other sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program;

Contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science, and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the State;

Work in close coordination with the NASA Space Grant program to improve the environment for science, mathematics, engineering, and